Nursing Resume Recommended Guidelines

Presentation/Formatting

• A 1 page resume is recommended; if you need to use 2 pages (i.e. you are a graduate student or are pursuing a second degree and have a significant amount of work experience), at least fill 1.5 pages completely
• Consistent font type and size throughout (minimum 10 and maximum 12) except name which may be larger
• Suggested fonts include Times New Roman, Arial and Garamond
• Be consistent in the use of bold and italics (i.e., all organization/company names in bold and titles in italics)
• Margins on all sides should be consistent. .5 minimum- 1” maximum
• Use bullet points (no dashes or arrows) and make sure all bullets and type are consistently aligned
• Do not put periods at the end of bulleted accomplishment statements as they are not sentences
• When an accomplishment runs onto a second line, make sure the lines are balanced rather than having one long line and just a few words on the following line (accomplishment statements should generally be 1 line)
• Do not include a logo, picture or graphics; keep your text black
• Use proper spelling and grammar throughout (in addition to using Spellcheck, have someone proof a hard copy of the resume)
• When attaching to an e-mail, save the resume as a PDF so the formatting stays the same

Personal Information 

• Name should be larger and may be in all caps
• Use current address; address should not be abbreviated (St. should be Street, Apt. should be Apartment, etc.)
• Only list one cell phone number - 908-xxx-xxxx. E-mail – while a student, use your SHU email address, upon graduation
• switch to a professional e-mail address
• The contact information may be on one to four lines depending on space availability

Objective (Optional)

Use the Objective as an opportunity to tell the employer what you are looking for as well as what you can offer. You do not want to be too general (i.e. to gain experience with a growing organization). 

Education

• Do not include high school (except freshmen who may include this information, depending on experience)
• Include the School and the Degree; Bachelor of Science in Nursing (if you have a second degree, you can list it below Seton Hall University)
• If you have another Bachelor or Associate Degree, you should list this underneath the Seton Hall Bachelor of Science
• Include graduation date only (not a date range); GPA should be listed if it is above a 3.0
• Study abroad experiences can be listed under Education (or in a Leadership Experience section for example)

Honors and Awards 

• Only create a separate Awards section if you have two or more awards; otherwise include under appropriate entry (i.e., in the Education section for scholarship or Dean’s List)
• Include date or date ranges received - For honor societies, include date of induction

Certifications and Licensures 

• Include all certifications necessary to be a nurse as well as those extra you received for positions in medical field.

Experience

• You can have various “Experience” sections including: Clinical, Relevant, Professional, Leadership, etc.
• You can include all work experience and internships regardless of whether they are paid or unpaid
• Do not use personal pronouns (I, My, etc.)
• Bullet points should begin with action verb (i.e., Managed, Created, etc.)
• Use consistent verb tenses – past experiences should be in past tense; present experiences in present tense
• Put jobs in reverse chronological order (start with most recent)
• Only include city, state in locations, not the complete address

Leadership Experience/Memberships/Volunteer Experience and or/Activities 

• These sections can be combined or separated depending on the amount of information, relevance and space available.
• Include titles, dates and use reverse chronological order.
• Bullet points can be added if you want to showcase a key accomplishment

Skills

• Include computer, language, certifications/licenses if it is job related
• Do not list only “Microsoft Office”; spell out Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint (all one word), Word, Access, etc.
• Only list language skills if you are fluent and confident speaking or writing the language
• Do not include attributes such as hard working, motivated, etc. OR skills such as analytical, planning or interpersonal

References
Do not list references or include the phrase “References Upon Request”. References go on a separate document – not your resume.